The focus of this article is about mana efficiency. The table below lists the amount of damage generated by a spell for each mana used. DPS efficiency is offered as a secondary article focus.

DPM shows Damage per Mana. DPS shows the Damage per Second. The Time listed is the time needed before the spell can be used against a single target (in the case of DoTs, the time represents the duration of the DoT. Of course, a player may apply the same DoT to the target before the expiration of the time listed, however, doing so will reduce the DPM and DPS value of the first application).

Note that some spells can be used in parallel, which would add to the total DPS against a single target. Warlocks also have talents that can increase damage of certain types of spells, or certain spells themselves (increased damage to fire damage, shadow damage, and bonuses for Curse of Agony and Immolate).

The maximal DPS also depends on the casting time of the spells, which can be modified by talents. However, the baseline casting times for each spell is used for equality of comparisonin this analysis .

Note: Instant cast spells have their DPS calculated against the global cooldown value of 1.5 seconds. This value is offered in order to give the reader an idea of the DPS done by a spell against the investment in time to cast and to recover from casting it (as opposed to selecting other damage dealing options).

Far and away, Shadowfury offers the highest DPS of any Warlock spell. However, its 20 second cooldown time prevents it from being spammed.

Soul Fire has a very high degree of mana efficiency coupled with a high value DPS. It offers approximately the same DPS value as Rank 10 and 11 Shadowbolt, but is three times more mana efficient. However, its 6 second cast time limits its use when the Warlock is receiving damage that can interrupt the casting time.

Shadow Bolt has a high DPS but low DPM. If there is a shortage of mana, the first step should be to stop using this spell.

The raid or party may have special assignments and restrictions on the usage of DoTs.

Criticals with Shadow Bolt and Immolate will give an improved DPM which is not the case for DoTs. However, the improvement is not high enough to give Shadow Bolt better average DPM than any DoT. Unlike DoTs, however, Shadow Bolt can be cast in semi-rapid succession, causing far more damage for the mana if you hit with a critical.

DoT vs. Spell DPM depends highly on talents, with increased criticals, mana reduction, increased types of damage, and debuffs, this can cause the DPM to fluctuate a great deal depending on the warlock, and even sometimes his party (another warlock using Curse of Elements, and Shadow Weaving, for instance, can increase critical damages to very high levels).

There is always the possibility to use a wand when the mana pool is depleted.